My local school is starting a sailing club and they need to build a fleet over the winter. They are looking for simple, cheap, safe and of course fun. It would be best if it held 3-4 people and was an easy build. I would prefer something easy to transport as well, as I will be the one doing that. Any 3-1s, or Triad builders out there. Of course other models will work as well
A lot of clubs have had good success in building Optimists. The one advantage of them is that they are a recoginised design class. I don't know how many people you can get into them though - it depends on how big they are ;-)
There are a lot of good choices and most would be relatively simple to build and sail. The Optimist would be an excellent choice indeed.
I'm offering an alternative that is fun, simple to build, yet interesting and a bit of a challenge for kids to build, but sails well and is fast. I've seen several of these built by students and they all turned out well. Good projects, easy to manage and affordable to build.
You might spend a little time looking at these and the techniques used to build them. They are fun and a lot sturdier than they look. Three people is not a problem with them, depending upon their size and weight of course. With a capacity of 750# it will handle a full crew.
http://gaboats.com/boats/cricket12_design.html
Larry,
Opti's would be a great school project and fleet. Check out
www.CABBS.org There are pictures of our building project from this summer. Our group with the Cleveland City Schools and Whiskey Island Marina built 5 optimist prams this summer. Go to the contact us link and email Hank Vincenti for more info. We have a manual and set of plans along with a building schedule, I am sure that Hank would love to share his thoughts with you on this subject.
After re-reading your post, the Opti is good for one maybe 2 youths, for something bigger there is the weekend skiff by the same folks that brought you the 6 hour canoe.
http://www.cabbs.org/Miller%20Weekend%20Skiff.htm Our club member George Miller knows that boat inside and out and was very involved in the family boat building project at lake Moraine when they built the weekend skiffs. John Bridges at Lake Moraine Yacht club is also very familiar with group building projects like the opti and the weekend skiff you may tap him for more info also.
Jim
Jim
I have been communicating with John B. He had 2 3/4 weekend skiffs that he was willing to donate to us if CABBS didnt want them. CABBS took the 2 just days before we replied to his offer. He seems like a great person and is very willing to help out. The club generated more excitement than expected and I want to act fast while the enthusiasm is high
Larry if you are interested in the weekend skiff let me know I will put you in touch with George Miller. He has a demo model that he assmebles and takes apart for presentations, there is also a set of plywood patterns for the major componets. He may be willing to show you the ins and outs of the boat. I am not sure what happened to the two kits they may just be sitting in a barn some where for all I know I am out of the loop on most things after retiring as president. Let me know and I can make the contacts for you.
Sounds like a fun.
Jim
Larry, good on ya! What a wonderful gift to offer to the kids. Our old sailing club had a very active Opti fleet, they were eligible to attend sail camp as young as 6. The kids were fantastic sailors, they learned so quickly and were very agile in the boats. Once they out grew the Opti class they moved up to JY's. Many went on to sail on highschool teams and some even moved on up to college teams.
Get them in the boats, some of them will have the bug for life. It will impact all of them. What a wonderful gesture.
